Donald Ketelsen, 87, of Center Junction, died Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at St. Luke's Hospital surrounded by his family.
Funeral services were held at 11:00 Friday, May 24, 2013 at the Center Junction Presbyterian Church. Pastor Jean Bruinsma officiated at the services. Interment was in the Oakwood Cemetery, Monticello. Friends called from 4 until 8 Thursday at the Goettsch Funeral Home, Monticello.
Surviving are his wife, Marilyn, four children, Dennis (Sandie) of Toddsville, Ken of Onslow; Marcia (Vic) Kray, Monticello; Kris (Jeff) Weers, Scotch Grove; four grandchildren, Jeff and Abby Ketelsen; Mikinzie (Britt) Smith, Parker Kray, a great-grandson, Austin Smith and two sisters-in-law, Ann Ketelsen-Lee, Cedar Rapids and Bonnie Hartong, Crystal River, Florida. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, John (Marge) Ketelsen and Dick Ketelsen, and a sister Ruth Ann Glenn.
Donald Edward Ketelsen was born September 17, 1925 on the family farm near Center Junction. He was the son of John and Fredda (Lang) Ketelsen. Don attended Pine Grove Country School and graduated from the Center Junction High School in 1943. Donald Ketelsen and Marilyn Yeisley were married September 8, 1951 at her family home in Springville. They have made their home and raised their family on the Ketelsen family farm the past sixty-one years. Don started farming at age 9, following the death of his father. He was very proud that it became a Century Farm in 1993. Don was still farming at the time of his death.
Don was an active member of the Center Junction community. He was a church trustee and elder, and had been a 4-H leader for the Center Junction Royal Rustlers, served on the rural fire board, the Center Junction Telephone Board and the Co-op Board for twenty-eight years. He played on the Center Junction Town Basketball team when they played the Harlem Globetrotters. Don and Marilyn loved to go dancing, playing cards, and were members of the Diamond Dreamers Camper Club. Don's greatest loves in his life were his wife, his family and his farm.